Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Promoting quality education in Australia

Brad Williams

AFTER A 24-year stint with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, he decided on a career change and joined the University of South Australia in 1998.He was involved in one of the largest computing projects on the campus and in implementing the new system. His work now includes interviewing students who want to study in Australia, and discussing with educational institutions in other countries to see how the University could collaborate with the institution.

On a visit to Coimbatore, Brad Williams, Manager (Marketing and International Development), University of South Australia, spoke to A. A. Michael Raj on the benefits of Australian education and life at the University.

IN KEEPING with its reputation as an international institution, the University of South Australia gave serious students in other countries a chance to study overseas if there were collaborative academic links between the institutions.

"We try to encourage student exchange for a semester or two and also academic staff exchange. Our staff take the chance to work for six months in a foreign institution where there are areas of common research interest," he said.

Over 33,000 students studied at the university that had more than 300 undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes. Four thousand were international students and an additional 7,500 studied online or were doing international programmes offered either partly or wholly within the country.

Mr. Williams observed that the Australian system ensured quality assurance in education and protected overseas students doing various courses in the country. Under the Educational Services for Overseas Students Act, university staff that did not meet the requirements could face punitive action.

"For universities to offer overseas education, they must be on the CRICOS register. They also have to register each individual programme," he explained. (CRICOS is the acronym for Course Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students).

Besides this, the Australian Government had an independent organisation called the Australian Universities Quality Agency, which had given the highest number of commendations to the University of South Australia.

"Their purpose is to ensure that all Australian universities meet higher education standards in all operations. On a cyclic basis, a committee goes to each university and does a thorough investigation. It can look through any document and talk to any employee or student. This can include visiting international partners. They produce publicly available reports on the strengths of each university and offer recommendations on how they can improve," Mr. Williams said. An engineering degree in the Australian educational system was for four years, which meant it might be quite expensive for an Indian student. If an Indian institution had collaboration with the University, the student could study two years in India and two in Australia, making the course more affordable.

He said that there were regional differences among students from various parts of India, when it came to education in Australia.

In South India, students preferred courses in science, engineering and technology, while those in the North opted for programmes in business, commerce and management.

Adelaide, where the university was located, was ideal for students.

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